Fall break may be one day shorter in 1998-99

SCUE members not in favor of calendar proposal Fall break for the 1998-99 school year may be one day shorter because of scheduling problems. Because Labor Day is later than usual -- September 7, 1998 -- changes need to be made to the fall semester schedule in order to keep the appropriate number of school days in the semester, said Terri Conn, executive assistant to the vice provost for University Life. The Council of Undergraduate Deans is currently discussing proposals to solve the academic calendar problems and will announce the finalized calendar soon, she said. "In the past, we have taken one day from fall break, which may solve the problem," Conn added. The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education members who belong to the council were not in favor of cutting a day from fall break, SCUE Chairperson and Wharton junior Ben Nelson said. The last time this problem occurred was in the fall of 1992 when the University cut one day from fall break. Labor Day falls later in the calendar than usual approximately every five years. The final exam period was also shortened in 1992 by a day so students could return home by December 23. But according to a 1998 calendar, if the University was to shorten fall break by a day and maintain the same number of reading days and final exams, the last day of exams would be December 25 -- unless other schedule changes are made to the calendar. The council also proposed that fall break be eliminated, but this was opposed by SCUE and by the Office of the VPUL, Nelson said. "A lot of students depend on fall break to catch up on work or to relax, especially if they are first semester freshmen," Nelson said. Currently, University policy requires 65 school days for the fall term and 70 days for the spring term. There are three reading days and six days for final exams in each semester. The Council of Undergraduate Deans is trying to avoid interfering with reading days as they adjust the academic calendar, according to Conn. SCUE did propose starting classes a week earlier in order to avoid this recurring scheduling conflict, but the council voted against it. "Our proposal would also have brought parity between the two semesters, which right now does not exist," Nelson said. The slight variance from the usual schedule was not without precedent. This year, officials moved spring break from the first week in March to the second. "We had always tried to coordinate spring break with the flower show at the Civic Center, but since the show was moved to downtown, it was decided that we didn't need to have spring break so early," Conn said. The academic calendar for 1996-97 has already been finalized, Conn added.